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"Jack" Is Back At Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights

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ORLANDO (CBSMiami) - He's back. Jack the Clown, Universal Orlando's master of the murder, the maker of mayhem and dealer of death will return for the park's annual Halloween Horror Nights.

This fall, Halloween Horror Nights will mark its milestone 25th year and run for a record-breaking 30 nights, including the following event dates; Sept. 18-19, 24-25, 26-27; Oct. 1-4, 7-11, 14-18, 21-25, 28-31 and Nov. 1.

The year there will be nine haunted houses erected throughout the theme park, the most Universal Orlando has ever done.

"Once inside, guests shriek their way through an unpredictable, multi-sensory labyrinth based on anything from iconic slasher films to hit horror video games to haunting original stories created by Universal's Entertainment team, according to Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights website.

Additionally, the streets in the park are transformed into highly-themed scare zones, brought to life with scenery and teams of menacing "scare-actors" that lunge from the shadows as visitors walk by.

In addition to the haunted houses and scare zones, the park features live shows. Two of the more popular ones in Orlando have been "Bill and Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure" and "The Rocky Horror Picture Show: A Tribute."

Every year Halloween Horror Nights has had an icon, and in some cases multiple icons, except for two Halloween Horror Nights 14 and 22. In addition to Jack there have been The Director, Bloody Mary, The Caretaker, The Usher, The Storyteller, Fear and Lady Luck.

So who is Jack? According to the Universal Orlando blog:

In early 2000, the creative minds of Entertainment's Art and Design team developed an insane clown by the name of Jack. His look played into people's inherent fear of clowns and would hopefully give the event the sledgehammer to the chest needed to take it to the next level.

Well, a monster was unleashed, both literally and figuratively. Unbridled, uncontrollable, freakish and violent, Jack the Clown sprang from his box and completely took over. He grabbed the event by its face and crushed it, laughing manically the entire time.

Each year, the event in Orlando and at Universal Studios Hollywood draws hundreds of thousands of people from across the country.

"After visiting scream parks all across the U.S. for the last 20 years, I can easily say that Universal's is the best in the business… Halloween Horror Nights is the ultimate Halloween experience," said Tony Timpone, Editor of Fangoria Magazine

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